Emmott and Roland
Rowland and Emmott were sweethearts and their story is a sad and romantic tragedy which captured the imagination of people who read about it. Rowland was the son of a flour miller and lived in Stoney Middleton and Emmott was a young girl who lived in a house called Bagshaw House, opposite the church at Eyam. The Sydall family were struck down early by the plague because they lived so close to the plague cottages where the disease killed the first victims. Emmott's father, brother and four sisters all died within a few days of each other in September and October 1665.
Rowland comforted his beloved Emmott at this time of sorrow - but Emmott was worried that he would catch the plague as well. She begged him to stay away and not to come visiting. Eventually, he agreed and they used to meet at Cucklet Delph from time to time. They planned to get married. Unfortunately, Emmott caught the plague and died at the end of April 1666. Emmott's mother was the only one left out of her entire family. She could not bear living in the house where they had all lived so happily, so she left to go to stay with relatives who were living nearby. Meanwhile, Rowland kept going to the Delph in the hope of seeing Emmott. He heard rumours that his darling Emmott had died and day after day when she did not appear, he began to believe it was true. When the plague was over and people were allowed to enter the village, Rowland was one of the first to come. As he walked towards the cottage where Emmott and her family had lived, he met a villager who told hi,m "Ah! Rowland, thy Emmott's dead and buried in Cussy Dell".
Rowland comforted his beloved Emmott at this time of sorrow - but Emmott was worried that he would catch the plague as well. She begged him to stay away and not to come visiting. Eventually, he agreed and they used to meet at Cucklet Delph from time to time. They planned to get married. Unfortunately, Emmott caught the plague and died at the end of April 1666. Emmott's mother was the only one left out of her entire family. She could not bear living in the house where they had all lived so happily, so she left to go to stay with relatives who were living nearby. Meanwhile, Rowland kept going to the Delph in the hope of seeing Emmott. He heard rumours that his darling Emmott had died and day after day when she did not appear, he began to believe it was true. When the plague was over and people were allowed to enter the village, Rowland was one of the first to come. As he walked towards the cottage where Emmott and her family had lived, he met a villager who told hi,m "Ah! Rowland, thy Emmott's dead and buried in Cussy Dell".
The Hancock Family
One of the most tragic stories about the plague in Eyam is what happened to the Hancock family. The plague arrived at the farm where they lived during August 1666. First two of the children died, John and Elizabeth, on the 3rd of August. Four days later, the father John and two more children died - William and Oner. Two days after that, Alice died and then the next day her sister, Ann, died. The only person left was Mrs Hancock, who had to carry or drag the corpses of her loved ones, dig a grave and then bury them. She lost her husband and six of her children within a few days of each other.
Broken-hearted, Mrs Hancock eventually left the farm to live with another son who lived in Sheffield. It was one of this son's descendants who erected the stones which identified the places where the family had been buried. These were originally flat on the ground, but were collected together in a field some distance outside Eyam and surrounded by a stone wall at a later date. These headstones can still be seen and they are called the Riley Graves. The graves are called the Riley Graves because they are near the Riley house and were on Riley land.
Broken-hearted, Mrs Hancock eventually left the farm to live with another son who lived in Sheffield. It was one of this son's descendants who erected the stones which identified the places where the family had been buried. These were originally flat on the ground, but were collected together in a field some distance outside Eyam and surrounded by a stone wall at a later date. These headstones can still be seen and they are called the Riley Graves. The graves are called the Riley Graves because they are near the Riley house and were on Riley land.